\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTo Taylor Ashby, mornings were always the same \u2014 the quiet shuffle of his wife, Alex, leaving their bedroom, the soft kiss they shared before he made her coffee, the simple greeting that started their day. \u201cI\u2019m still waiting to wake up and see her,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cJust scoot out of our bedroom and give her a kiss and make her a cup of coffee\u2026 get our day started with a good morning. And \u2018I love you.\u2019\u201dBut Taylor knows that morning isn\u2019t coming.Alex Ashby \u2014 a devoted wife, mother, and beloved teacher \u2014 died early Friday morning after crashing into a large utility pole on Pine Island Road.Now, Taylor is holding on for their two young children: five-year-old Landon and 13-month-old Estella.\u201cWhenever you want to talk to mommy, you can say good morning or hello,\u201d he tells them. \u201cAnd just know that she\u2019s very proud of you. And she loves you very much.\u201dThe couple met through their shared passion for teaching.Alex, 37, taught science at Ida Baker High School, where she became known for her kindness, humor, and dedication.\u201cTeaching is a tireless, thankless profession,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut she loved her students. She gave her best effort.\u201d Behind her bright spirit, Alex carried a lifelong burden: cystic fibrosis.She passed the disease on to both of her children.But instead of slowing down, Alex fought with determination. She ran the New York City Half Marathon, advocated for cystic fibrosis awareness, and refused to let the illness define her.\u201cIt\u2019s a constant theme we\u2019ve had in our lives,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe\u2019ve struggled a lot through her medical illnesses \u2014 hospitalizations, home IVs\u2026 but she always kept going.\u201dTaylor remembers his wife\u2019s nighttime drives \u2014 a simple ritual that helped her clear her mind when she couldn\u2019t sleep.\u201cShe had diabetes, so if she was hungry, she\u2019d go get something to eat,\u201d he said with a soft smile. \u201cShe loved McDonald\u2019s. She loved Big Macs.\u201d Now, bright flowers line the spot where she took her last breaths. Taylor says each day gets a little easier, but the small, everyday habits make the loss feel overwhelming.\u201cMaking coffee in the morning,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cNot being able to make her favorite meals because she hated to cook\u2026 putting up Christmas decorations early. Those moments hit the hardest.\u201d A celebration of life will be held Nov. 29 at Cape Christian.Taylor asks that everyone wear bright, vibrant colors \u2014 because that\u2019s what Alex would want.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
To Taylor Ashby, mornings were always the same \u2014 the quiet shuffle of his wife, Alex, leaving their bedroom, the soft kiss they shared before he made her coffee, the simple greeting that started their day. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still waiting to wake up and see her,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cJust scoot out of our bedroom and give her a kiss and make her a cup of coffee\u2026 get our day started with a good morning. And \u2018I love you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But Taylor knows that morning isn\u2019t coming.<\/p>\n
Alex Ashby \u2014 a devoted wife, mother, and beloved teacher \u2014 died early Friday morning after crashing into a large utility pole on Pine Island Road.<\/p>\n
Now, Taylor is holding on for their two young children: five-year-old Landon and 13-month-old Estella.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever you want to talk to mommy, you can say good morning or hello,\u201d he tells them. \u201cAnd just know that she\u2019s very proud of you. And she loves you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple met through their shared passion for teaching.<\/p>\n
Alex, 37, taught science at Ida Baker High School, where she became known for her kindness, humor, and dedication.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching is a tireless, thankless profession,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut she loved her students. She gave her best effort.\u201d <\/p>\n
Behind her bright spirit, Alex carried a lifelong burden: cystic fibrosis.<\/p>\n
She passed the disease on to both of her children.<\/p>\n
But instead of slowing down, Alex fought with determination. She ran the New York City Half Marathon, advocated for cystic fibrosis awareness, and refused to let the illness define her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a constant theme we\u2019ve had in our lives,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe\u2019ve struggled a lot through her medical illnesses \u2014 hospitalizations, home IVs\u2026 but she always kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor remembers his wife\u2019s nighttime drives \u2014 a simple ritual that helped her clear her mind when she couldn\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had diabetes, so if she was hungry, she\u2019d go get something to eat,\u201d he said with a soft smile. \u201cShe loved McDonald\u2019s. She loved Big Macs.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now, bright flowers line the spot where she took her last breaths. <\/p>\n
Taylor says each day gets a little easier, but the small, everyday habits make the loss feel overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking coffee in the morning,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cNot being able to make her favorite meals because she hated to cook\u2026 putting up Christmas decorations early. Those moments hit the hardest.\u201d <\/p>\n
A celebration of life will be held Nov. 29 at Cape Christian.<\/p>\n
Taylor asks that everyone wear bright, vibrant colors \u2014 because that\u2019s what Alex would want.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To Taylor Ashby, mornings were always the same \u2014 the quiet shuffle of his wife, Alex, leaving their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[32799,32800,209,211,210,7487,32801,166,104,13781,213,1210,5863,32798,12633,221,24617,25225],"class_list":["post-52048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-alex","tag-beloved-teacher","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-coffee","tag-cystic-fibrosis","tag-day","tag-entertainment","tag-illness","tag-late-news","tag-life","tag-morning","tag-taylor-ashby","tag-teaching","tag-weather","tag-wife","tag-young-child"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}